SCREEN GEMS

Gere shines as a con artist in 'Hoax'

August 03, 2007

*indicates a capsule review from Chicago Tribune archives.

(diamond) indicates a film that is not reviewed, but of interest.

Bacinema

Beverly Arts Center

2407 W. 111th St.

773-445-3838

*'The Hoax' *** (U.S.; Lasse Hallstrom, 2006): How did con artist/writer Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), who never met Howard Hughes, think he could get away with pretending he was the go-between for the billionaire's "memoirs," a manuscript Irving had written? The 1971 scam is re-created in director Lasse Hallstrom's fairly engrossing movie. 7:30 p.m. Wed.

Block Cinema

Northwestern University

Outside Norris University Center

1999 Campus Drive, Evanston

847-491-4000

blockmuseum.northwestern.edu

*'North by Northwest' **** (U.S.; Alfred Hitchcock, 1959): Cary Grant gives one of his best performances in this Hitchcock classic as an adman whom enemy spies mistake for a government agent. Convinced they're trying to kill him, he goes on the run, hooking up with one of Hitch's coolest blonds (Eva Marie Saint). Dusk (about 9 p.m.) Wed.

Doc Films

University of Chicago

Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St.

773-702-8575

docfilms.uchicago.edu

*'How Green Was My Valley' **** (U.S.; John Ford, 1941). Based on Richard Llewellyn's stirring memoir of his Welsh boyhood, this is one of the great John Ford films. A multiple Oscar winner (it beat out "Citizen Kane"), this is a deeply moving family saga set in an era of labor turbulence and social change. 7, 9 p.m. Sat.

*'Breaking Away' **** (U.S.; Peter Yates, 1979). Filmed in and around the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, the movie follows the exploits of four working-class kids in a university town who are one year out of high school -- and that's about all. In other words, these kids are nowhere, and they can see other kids their own age -- the rich college kids -- headed for that American dream: the upwardly mobile life. Dusk (approximately 8:30 p.m.) Thu.

Gene Siskel Film Center

164 N. State St.

312-846-2800

siskelfilmcenter.org

*'The Real Dirt on Farmer John' *** (U.S.; Taggart Siegel, 2005) This very likable documentary by director-producer Siegel introduces us to a winningly eccentric and self-dramatizing guy named John Peterson, a rural Illinois farmer whose curious life story becomes a classic tale of the American dream, from both the dark side and the light. 3:30 p.m. Sat. (also Aug. 12, 18).

The Music Box Theatre

3733 N. Southport Ave.

773-871-6604

musicboxtheatre.com

*'Red River' **** (U.S.; Howard Hawks, 1948). For Hawks' epic about the first great cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail, screenwriter Borden Chase had the idea of making a western "Mutiny on the Bounty." Hawks cast the perfect actors for it: John Wayne as the relentless Tom Dunson, "Red River D" ranch owner, and Montgomery Clift as Dunson's adopted son Matthew Garth, who leads the revolt. 11:30 a.m. Sat.-Sun.

Silent Film Society

Portage Theater

4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.

773-205-7372

silentfilmchicago.com

(diamond)'Battleship Potemkin' (U.S.S.R.; Sergei Eisenstein, 1925). Eisenstein depicts an incident during a 1905 uprising against the Russian monarchy. The crew of the battleship Prince Potemkin mutinied against the cruelty and indifference of its officers when they were forced to eat rotting food. The sequence filmed at the Odessa steps lasts for more than four minutes and contains 155 separate shots, characteristic of the film's intricate and complex montage flow. Part of the Silent Summer Film Festival. 8 p.m. Fri.